Once again, this is just for fun. In case you are new, this is my gut reaction to headlines without reading the article. Of course, the gripes I have may be answered in the article.
We start in Formula One because that is where it is nosiest.
There are at least five things I could list here and I am not sure which to put down first...
1. Teams being priced out at an alarming rate that only Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault will compete.
2. Escalating costs forcing too many drivers out of rides and lack of engine manufactures turn the series into DTM-plus where each engine manufacture has one star driver that the rest have to fall in line behind.
3. Television viewers dropping to a point where the series can no longer demand the high rights fees and leaves the series in a terrible position where teams will not get paid but also has killed off the fan base to a point that no one longer watching.
4. Fifteen races rebelling over the high price for sanctioning fees and turning Formula One into a farce of a series that fans around the world can no longer take seriously because it has to fill a 12-race schedule with races on makeshift street courses in authoritarian countries with no passion behind them.
5. The series cannot figure out the technical regulations and cannot get away from the high downforce levels, leaving races stuck as the processional affairs for many more seasons.
1. Teams being priced out at an alarming rate that only Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault will compete.
2. Escalating costs forcing too many drivers out of rides and lack of engine manufactures turn the series into DTM-plus where each engine manufacture has one star driver that the rest have to fall in line behind.
3. Television viewers dropping to a point where the series can no longer demand the high rights fees and leaves the series in a terrible position where teams will not get paid but also has killed off the fan base to a point that no one longer watching.
4. Fifteen races rebelling over the high price for sanctioning fees and turning Formula One into a farce of a series that fans around the world can no longer take seriously because it has to fill a 12-race schedule with races on makeshift street courses in authoritarian countries with no passion behind them.
5. The series cannot figure out the technical regulations and cannot get away from the high downforce levels, leaving races stuck as the processional affairs for many more seasons.
None of those would be good things and they all could be closer to reality than we hope.
Good luck with that. It may never happen again in Formula One that a true blue privateer ends up competing for one championship let alone ends up becoming one of the greatest teams in Formula One history. Williams won many championships and hasn't been regularly competitive in 15 years. McLaren won many championships and has been lost. Racing Point doesn't have a prayer unless it partners up with a manufacture and that takes them to another level.
Step one: Do not create a new F1 legends series.
Step two: Look up the Fast Masters series to see why not to create it.
We tried this over 25 years ago, albeit with Jaguars on a makeshift road course on the oval at Indianapolis Raceway Park but we also tried this a little over a decade ago with single-seater cars in a series called Grand Prix Masters. GPM sanctioned three races over a two year period and folded.
No one wanted to see Eddie Cheever, Alan Jones, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell, Jan Lammers, René Arnoux and Riccardo Patrese competing then and I doubt anyone wants to see them run now. Hell, all of those guys have aged out of this series. We would be getting Ralf Schumacher, Jean Alesi, Norberto Fontana, Jarno Trulli, Olivier Panis, Jos Verstappen, Giancarlo Fisichella, David Coulthard, and Jacques Villeneuve of all people in a series and I doubt anyone wants to see that.
The last thing we need is a senior series. Motorsports doesn't need to be golf with a senior tour. If anything that is a misuse of resources when young drivers are struggling to find funding to keep going up the ladder and Formula One has become unobtainable for even the best young drivers without a fair chunk of cash.
This is reassuring and depressing simultaneously. We are all a bit scared of change every now and then. It isn't bad to be scared. Sometimes we are afraid of losing something good that we have. That is reasonable.
We shouldn't always be afraid of change. Some change is good. Some change can make things better.
I don't know what Racer's Chris Medland wrote about because this all based on the headlines but maybe he is writing about a significant change in the Formula One schedule and the series moving on from Silverstone, Monza and other popular venues. I would disagree with that. Every series needs its tried and true venues. Imagine Wimbledon no longer hosting tennis or the Rose Bowl closing down and game disbanding or the Green Bay Packers moving to Boise.
There are things that should be held onto but there should also be things we are open if changes are proposed. It is all about finding a happy medium and knowing what is truly worth it.
We shouldn't always be afraid of change. Some change is good. Some change can make things better.
I don't know what Racer's Chris Medland wrote about because this all based on the headlines but maybe he is writing about a significant change in the Formula One schedule and the series moving on from Silverstone, Monza and other popular venues. I would disagree with that. Every series needs its tried and true venues. Imagine Wimbledon no longer hosting tennis or the Rose Bowl closing down and game disbanding or the Green Bay Packers moving to Boise.
There are things that should be held onto but there should also be things we are open if changes are proposed. It is all about finding a happy medium and knowing what is truly worth it.
We need a quick break from Formula One...
Because American motorcycle racing was killed over ten years ago when Daytona Motorsports Group purchased the AMA Superbike series and ran the series into the ground while the recession followed, making it inconceivable for any manufacture to participate in the series and on top of that reduced television coverage because the series became a shell of its former self making it unappealing for all manufactures that led to a fractured series and the breakaway MotoAmerica series in hopes of resurrecting motorcycle racing in this country but the series and its riders have fallen drastically behind the European system as MotoGP manufactures focus more on finding the next best thing through Moto3 and Moto2, where riders from Spain and Italy flourish, while those competing in the United States are miles off.
Does that cover it for you?
Does that cover it for you?
We know... you kept Verstappen and let Ricciardo walk. There was no need to come out and say that. We got the message from the actions last summer.
As Mark Miles once said, purity is for the puritans. It is easy to cast oneself as a puritan but no one knows what that means.
There are people who would say Formula One isn't pure because of all the money it takes to be competitive and the high downforce levels that are dismissed as not being challenging enough for a driver.
There are people who would say IndyCar isn't pure because all the teams use one chassis manufacture and there are two engine manufactures that are forced to build engines to the same specifications.
There are people who would say NASCAR isn't pure because... well, its NASCAR, pick one of the 890 reasons why.
There are people who would say any sports car series that uses balance of performance isn't pure because it punishes manufactures who build the best cars and all those who did not build as good of a car to be competitive.
We can stay in this rabbit hole all day if we liked but it is foolish to think anyone is the standard of purity when it does not exist. Formula E is flawed. There are plenty of things that go against what we are accustomed to in motorsports but for anyone to think it is beneath them because isn't pure is ridiculous and soon enough Formula E will reach a level where those drivers, teams, crews and spectators believe it is the pure and above the rest.
There are people who would say Formula One isn't pure because of all the money it takes to be competitive and the high downforce levels that are dismissed as not being challenging enough for a driver.
There are people who would say IndyCar isn't pure because all the teams use one chassis manufacture and there are two engine manufactures that are forced to build engines to the same specifications.
There are people who would say NASCAR isn't pure because... well, its NASCAR, pick one of the 890 reasons why.
There are people who would say any sports car series that uses balance of performance isn't pure because it punishes manufactures who build the best cars and all those who did not build as good of a car to be competitive.
We can stay in this rabbit hole all day if we liked but it is foolish to think anyone is the standard of purity when it does not exist. Formula E is flawed. There are plenty of things that go against what we are accustomed to in motorsports but for anyone to think it is beneath them because isn't pure is ridiculous and soon enough Formula E will reach a level where those drivers, teams, crews and spectators believe it is the pure and above the rest.
Speaking of electric...
This is a rationale view. The world is changing. The automobile industry is changing. Motorsports will have to change with the automobile industry. It might be down the road but a time is coming soon when automobile manufactures will on the verge of selling only electric cars and at that time it will have to decide whether or it can continue in motorsports and series will have to adjust with the manufactures.
Not every manufacture is going to go to Formula E and existing series are going to evolve in attempts to survive. Any series that completely dismisses the input of manufactures is bound to die and Atherton realizes that. He is not saying it is going to come up in 2020 or 2021 or 2022 but come 2030 we may be having a serious conversation about hybrid systems or all-electric automobiles entering the series.
The series you love the most should not hold its ground if manufactures start talking about adding electric compounds to the series. Adjusting to the times may decide whether that series survives or dies. If a series doesn't adapt quick enough then all the manufactures may be gone, all the money will be gone and it could be over in a few years.
We need to have an open mind as we go into the future and these philosophical questions about the identity of every series will have to be addressed, some sooner than you think.
Staying in the United States...
Not every manufacture is going to go to Formula E and existing series are going to evolve in attempts to survive. Any series that completely dismisses the input of manufactures is bound to die and Atherton realizes that. He is not saying it is going to come up in 2020 or 2021 or 2022 but come 2030 we may be having a serious conversation about hybrid systems or all-electric automobiles entering the series.
The series you love the most should not hold its ground if manufactures start talking about adding electric compounds to the series. Adjusting to the times may decide whether that series survives or dies. If a series doesn't adapt quick enough then all the manufactures may be gone, all the money will be gone and it could be over in a few years.
We need to have an open mind as we go into the future and these philosophical questions about the identity of every series will have to be addressed, some sooner than you think.
Staying in the United States...
I don't think NASCAR drivers know whom the true them are.
We kind of have a problem in the United States when developing young talent in motorsports. We tell these kids from when they are nine years old that they have to be professional and learn to sell themselves and attract sponsors and they do that for their teenage days and then become adults, start entering the development series and it is ratcheted up even more. These drivers have to be salesmen and represent companies and they have to wear the shirt and talk the talk and when every driver in the series has been doing this since before puberty they all become robotic and one could be replaced for the other and we would never notice.
Other sports in the United States have a varied arrangement of personalities. Look at the NFL, for every Antonio Brown, DeSean Jackson and Jalen Ramsey you have a Joe Thomas, Eric Berry and Larry Fitzgerald. You have the most vivacious people in the same boat as the more reserved individuals. In the NBA, you can have screwball players like Nick Young and J.R. Smith as well as the more complex types such as Victor Oladipo and JJ Redick. The NBA has a political dissident in Enes Kanter in the league. Do you think we would ever see one of those in NASCAR or IndyCar?
These drivers need to relax and the atmosphere around them has to change as well. Drivers need to become more rounded. How many drivers read? How many drivers have a hobby beyond video games? How many drivers are invested in world issues and feel comfortable speaking up for an oppressed group? We don't hear about those drivers.
Aaron Telitz may be the most original guy in American motorsports. How many drivers paint in their free time and not only paint but paint well enough to sell their work for money? That is only one item but it is more than most have.
And we also can't forget that fans only want to see the "true you" if they agree with it. At least that has always been the perception in American motorsports. I am not sure that will be changing anytime soon.
We kind of have a problem in the United States when developing young talent in motorsports. We tell these kids from when they are nine years old that they have to be professional and learn to sell themselves and attract sponsors and they do that for their teenage days and then become adults, start entering the development series and it is ratcheted up even more. These drivers have to be salesmen and represent companies and they have to wear the shirt and talk the talk and when every driver in the series has been doing this since before puberty they all become robotic and one could be replaced for the other and we would never notice.
Other sports in the United States have a varied arrangement of personalities. Look at the NFL, for every Antonio Brown, DeSean Jackson and Jalen Ramsey you have a Joe Thomas, Eric Berry and Larry Fitzgerald. You have the most vivacious people in the same boat as the more reserved individuals. In the NBA, you can have screwball players like Nick Young and J.R. Smith as well as the more complex types such as Victor Oladipo and JJ Redick. The NBA has a political dissident in Enes Kanter in the league. Do you think we would ever see one of those in NASCAR or IndyCar?
These drivers need to relax and the atmosphere around them has to change as well. Drivers need to become more rounded. How many drivers read? How many drivers have a hobby beyond video games? How many drivers are invested in world issues and feel comfortable speaking up for an oppressed group? We don't hear about those drivers.
Aaron Telitz may be the most original guy in American motorsports. How many drivers paint in their free time and not only paint but paint well enough to sell their work for money? That is only one item but it is more than most have.
And we also can't forget that fans only want to see the "true you" if they agree with it. At least that has always been the perception in American motorsports. I am not sure that will be changing anytime soon.
What tradition?
Think about the #24 car in NASCAR. The only driver to win in that car is Jeff Gordon. Jeff Gordon is the only driver to have won a championship in that car. That isn't a tradition. That is Jeff Gordon.
That car has no tradition. For almost 50 years the number was nothing in NASCAR. Then Gordon came along, won four championships and 93 races and all of a sudden the number has a tradition?
I think tradition is the most overused word in motorsports, whether it is NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One and so on. It is all bullshit people disguise as a gospel and it kind of goes back to what Jeff Gordon said above.
Byron should want to be himself! Fuck tradition! Be you. Don't worry about trying to live up to some unreasonable expectation that whoever is in the #24 car to do what Jeff Gordon did. Do what you can and be happy with whatever you accomplish. Don't let some number dictate whether or not your career was a success.
Think about the #24 car in NASCAR. The only driver to win in that car is Jeff Gordon. Jeff Gordon is the only driver to have won a championship in that car. That isn't a tradition. That is Jeff Gordon.
That car has no tradition. For almost 50 years the number was nothing in NASCAR. Then Gordon came along, won four championships and 93 races and all of a sudden the number has a tradition?
I think tradition is the most overused word in motorsports, whether it is NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One and so on. It is all bullshit people disguise as a gospel and it kind of goes back to what Jeff Gordon said above.
Byron should want to be himself! Fuck tradition! Be you. Don't worry about trying to live up to some unreasonable expectation that whoever is in the #24 car to do what Jeff Gordon did. Do what you can and be happy with whatever you accomplish. Don't let some number dictate whether or not your career was a success.
Get in line. Also, what if Schmidt Peterson Motorsports came knocking? Does it have to be Ganassi or are you open to other suitors?
And more importantly, Abreu isn't ready for Indianapolis. He might be a stud in a midget car and a sprint car but if he wants to attempt the Indianapolis 500 his next step shouldn't be into a cockpit on the first qualifying day. He should run at least the Freedom 100 and maybe a few other Indy Lights races on ovals. He has to get acclimated. Nobody just threw Abreu into the NASCAR Cup Series. He did a year in trucks.
I know IndyCar was talking about establishing a license system in an attempt to prioritize IndyCar-ambitious drivers to head to the Road to Indy series and preventing drivers from hoping into an IndyCar straight out of GP3 or any other junior series abroad. This system would likely prevent Abreu going from Chili Bowl to the Indianapolis 500 and that should be the case.
Abreu is a good driver and it is a shame he didn't get a second year in the NASCAR Truck Series but smarter heads must prevail and if IndyCar is serious about this license system it must be enforced accordingly even if we do not like its implementation.
And more importantly, Abreu isn't ready for Indianapolis. He might be a stud in a midget car and a sprint car but if he wants to attempt the Indianapolis 500 his next step shouldn't be into a cockpit on the first qualifying day. He should run at least the Freedom 100 and maybe a few other Indy Lights races on ovals. He has to get acclimated. Nobody just threw Abreu into the NASCAR Cup Series. He did a year in trucks.
I know IndyCar was talking about establishing a license system in an attempt to prioritize IndyCar-ambitious drivers to head to the Road to Indy series and preventing drivers from hoping into an IndyCar straight out of GP3 or any other junior series abroad. This system would likely prevent Abreu going from Chili Bowl to the Indianapolis 500 and that should be the case.
Abreu is a good driver and it is a shame he didn't get a second year in the NASCAR Truck Series but smarter heads must prevail and if IndyCar is serious about this license system it must be enforced accordingly even if we do not like its implementation.
One month down, 11 months to go. Next month brings up Bathurst, Daytona and hopefully some warmer temperatures.
